It is more clear than ever that the Cuomo administration has been conducting a concerted, months-long disinformation campaign against the people of New York.
If only Governor Cuomo cared as much about the truth and New York’s most vulnerable populations as it appears he cares about his book deal.
For most of the past year, officials at the highest levels of state government have repeatedly and knowingly understated the death toll in nursing homes, made false assertions about how New York's situation compared to those of other states, and distorted the facts surrounding a policy that sent thousands of COVID-positive patients into facilities housing the state's most vulnerable population.
According to the latest revelations from The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, the disinformation campaign extended to manipulating the findings of a Health Department report on the crisis in nursing homes issued last July – undermining the department's credibility in the thick of a major public health crisis.
The deception continued in the face of pushback from ordinary citizens, the media, elected officials, and watchdog groups, including the Empire Center and its senior fellow for health policy, Bill Hammond.
The Empire Center is proud of its role in bringing out the truth, starting with a Freedom of Information request that Hammond submitted to the Health Department in August. The Empire Center filed suit to enforce that request in September and, with legal representation from the Government Justice Center, won the court order on Feb. 3 that finally compelled the release of complete nursing home data on Feb. 10.
In spite of everything that has come to light, the disinformation campaign persists as official sources make false and misleading statements about what has transpired – including misrepresenting the findings of an Empire Center report. The Cuomo administration apparently believes that the bullhorn of high public office is enough to drown out the facts. That strategy was always doomed to fail in the end.
It's hard to see how any of the officials responsible can continue to effectively perform their duties after what appears to be a fundamental betrayal of the public trust.
As serious these transgressions are, they must not distract from the urgent need for a broad, thorough and independent investigation of New York's overall pandemic response. The state needs to understand why it was hit so hard by the coronavirus so that it can properly strengthen its public health defenses against the next pandemic.
In an open letter on March 4, a coalition of nine watchdog groups including the Empire Center laid out a three-point plan for state leaders: promptly post all pandemic-related data in tabular format, commence oversight hearings in the Legislature, and convene an independent investigation in the style of the National Transportation Safety Board – that is, primarily aimed at learning lessons rather than casting blame.
The sooner lawmakers take those constructive steps, the better. Unfortunately, the executive branch officials who should be leading this effort – starting with Governor Cuomo and Commissioner Zucker – are too compromised by their own irresponsible actions to play any part other than submitting to questioning under oath.